Buni-led APC Reconciliation Committee To Parley Angry Members In 11 States

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Committee on Strategy, Conflict Resolution and Mobilisation has been tasked with addressing the crises rocking the party in 11 states, as well as other contentious issues.

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President Bola Tinubu, in the twilight of 2025, inaugurated the committee to address internal disputes within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 general election.

The committee, as the President’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, stated, was set up to strengthen cohesion within the ruling party and proactively manage internal conflicts.

Onanuga, in a statement issued on 24 December 2025, noted that the panel comprises APC governors, members of the Federal Executive Council, and other key stakeholders across the party.

The committee has Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, as chairman, while former APC National Legal Adviser, Muiz Banire, is a member/secretary.

Members include the governors of Kwara State, Abdulrahman AbdulRazaq; Imo State, Hope Uzodimma; Benue State, Hyacinth Alia; Kaduna State, Uba Sani; Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara; Jigawa State, Umar Namadi; Cross River State, Bassey Otu; Ekiti State, Abiodun Oyebanji; and Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori.

Others are Senator Adamu Aliero, Minister of Marine and Blue Economy; Adegboyega Oyetola, Minister of State for Defence; Bello Matawalle, former Kogi State Governor; Yahaya Bello, a retired Senior Special Assistant (SSA) to the President on Political Affairs; and Ibrahim Masari.

The task before the Buni-led committee appears enormous, as the APC is engulfed in one form of crisis or another across 11 states of the federation, whether as the ruling party or in opposition.

In Akwa Ibom State, the APC is facing a fracas as the party’s Aborigines Forum recently protested what it called the “systematic hijack” of APC structures by “newcomers” from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

This follows the defection of Governor Umo Eno to the APC in June 2025, along with PDP officials, commissioners, and state and federal lawmakers.

The APC Aborigines, in an open protest letter addressed to President Tinubu, accused Eno of executing a grand plot to infiltrate and dominate the APC through a network of loyalists drawn mainly from the PDP.

In the letter endorsed by the group’s National Coordinator, Okon Essien, and State Secretary, Ekemini Udo, the group alleged that Eno had set up a 33-member “war council” comprising politicians who defected with him from the PDP to the APC to execute his political agenda ahead of 2027.

In Anambra State, the party is yet to recover from the crisis that followed its governorship primary election ahead of the 8 November 2025 gubernatorial polls.

Nicholas Ukachukwu’s emergence as the party’s candidate deepened internal divisions, culminating in the defection of Paul Chukwuma to the Young Progressives Party (YPP), who was also a candidate in the election, which the APC lost to the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in the state.

In Benue State, the APC is factionalised between supporters of Governor Hyacinth Alia, referred to as the “masses”, and those loyal to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), George Akume, christened the “stakeholders”.

Already, President Tinubu has appointed the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, to lead the reconciliation committee tasked with resolving the internal crisis rocking the APC in Benue State.

In Delta State, the defection of Governor Sheriff Oborevwori to the APC has created a rift in the party, as former Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege, the APC’s 2023 gubernatorial candidate, has yet to fully accept the governor’s control of the party’s structure in the state.

Also, a chieftain of the APC in Delta State, Efe Ofobruku, decried what he termed a “takeover mentality” by some former PDP members who recently defected to the party.

Speaking during an interview on TVC’s Politics Tonight, Ofobruku said the APC in the state was stable until the recent influx of defectors from the PDP, alleging that some of the newcomers had attempted to “hijack” the party’s structure and sideline long-standing members.

In Edo State, too, some party members are unhappy that Governor Monday Okpebholo is allegedly working with individuals outside the party who worked against his victory in the 2024 polls.

A chieftain of the APC in Edo State, Shaba Adams Ehigiamusoe, criticised Okpebholo for allegedly working with individuals who previously labelled him illiterate, describing the development as demoralising to loyal party members.

Ehigiamusoe said the governor’s association with such former critics, more than one year into his administration, had deepened feelings of neglect among APC faithful who laboured for the party’s victory in the 2024 governorship election.

The defection of Governor Peter Mbah from the PDP to the APC has also unsettled the party in Enugu State, particularly following the dissolution of the party’s state leadership by the National Working Committee (NWC).

The NWC appointed Ben Nwoye, a former APC chairman in Enugu State, as caretaker chairperson. Also, Speaker of the Enugu State House of Assembly, Eugene Odoh, was appointed secretary, along with other members.

However, the then Ugochukwu Agballah-led state party executives rejected the action, which they described as the “unlawful, illegal and unconstitutional” dissolution of their leadership by the party’s National Working Committee.

In a statement jointly signed by all members of the dissolved state executive committee and the 17 local government chairmen, they described the NWC’s action as “a gross overreach” that contravenes the party’s constitution and undermines internal democracy.

Also speaking recently on Arise Television, an APC chieftain and the party’s 2023 Enugu North Senatorial candidate, Simon Eze, lamented that the recent influx of former PDP members into the APC in Enugu State was creating fresh layers of disunity within the ruling party.

Similarly, the planned defection of the Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, from the New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) to the APC is also unsettling for the party, as there are insinuations that he is demanding to be handed an automatic ticket for the 2027 governorship election and control of APC structures, against the interests of existing leaders.

While the party appears relatively stable in the President’s South West geopolitical zone, the recent Osun governorship primary election, which produced Bola Oyebamiji, did not go down well with one of the frontline aspirants and former National Secretary of the party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who was disqualified alongside six other contenders.

He was conspicuously absent from the meeting between President Tinubu and all aspirants before the primary election.

In Rivers State, the crack in the APC deepened with the recent defection of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, as the state leadership under Tony Okocha appears more aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, despite the governor being declared the party’s leader in the state.

On the other hand, the Emeka Beke faction has stood with Fubara during the impeachment process against him and his deputy, Prof. Ngozi Odu, by the House of Assembly over alleged gross misconduct.

For instance, the faction, which the APC NWC does not recognise, had called on the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Amadi, to respect the ruling of the state High Court restraining him from receiving or acting on any correspondence from the Speaker of the House, Martin Amaewhule, or any other officer of the Assembly towards the setting up of a seven-man panel to investigate the allegations against the governor.

The Sokoto APC is not spared internal wrangling either, as members of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) have been bickering over alleged marginalisation.

The CPC bloc claims that, despite forming the majority of APC members in the state, they are not being carried along in the party’s affairs.

A crisis is also brewing in the Zamfara State chapter of the APC on the heels of the ongoing nationwide electronic registration and revalidation of membership.

A governorship hopeful in Zamfara for the 2027 general election, Hon. Aminu Sani-Jaji, has raised the alarm over the alleged hijacking of the exercise, apparently by the Minister of State for Defence and immediate past governor, Bello Matawalle.

Jaji, who came to the APC national secretariat on Thursday to protest the alleged exclusion of himself and his supporters from the exercise, warned that the action was a recipe for crisis in the party and could cause its defeat at the 2027 general election.

“Up until this moment that I am speaking with you, nobody has registered me as a sitting member of the House of Representatives.

“As someone who served as Director of Contact and Mobilisation during the presidential campaign of the 2023 general election, something is wrong somewhere. Maybe a subversive agent is working to undermine the victory of the APC, not only in the state but possibly across the country, and such a situation cannot be allowed,” he said.

Beyond these crises across various states of the federation, there are also potential threats of implosion in the party following the defection of high-profile opposition members into the ruling APC.

Apart from governors, there has also been a gale of defections to the APC by members of the two chambers of the National Assembly — the Senate and the House of Representatives.

At last count, about 50 opposition members in the House dumped their parties, particularly the PDP, Labour Party (LP), New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Young Progressives Party (YPP), for the ruling APC, giving the party a comfortable majority of 78 senators out of 109 in the Senate.

Political observers say the Buni-led panel must resolve the avalanche of crises across several APC state chapters to make the party formidable enough to withstand opposition ahead of the 2027 general election.

A chieftain of the APC, who did not want to be named, urged the committee to also make deliberate efforts to court aggrieved members who remain within the party but are inactive.

The party kingpin specifically said the committee must ensure that past APC leaders, such as former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, Senator Rochas Okorocha, and Senator Ibikunle Amosun, are fully integrated into the party.

“There are past leaders of the party, such as former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SGF Mustapha and Governors Amosun and Okorocha, who have not announced their exit from the party but are not really active, while others like Rotimi Amaechi have left.

“The committee must ensure it meets with and possibly brings back on stream our valuable leaders, including those who contested the presidential ticket, such as Osinbajo, Amosun and Okorocha,” the party chieftain said.

LEADERSHIP Weekend learnt that the committee has begun work in earnest, having held its inaugural meeting on Monday to map out strategies for resolving pending conflicts and other potential threats to the party.

The Director-General, Press and Media Affairs to the Yobe State Governor, Mamman Mohammed, said in a statement that Buni urged members of the panel “not to allow personal interests and sentiments to override the general interest and purpose for which this committee was constituted.”

The Yobe governor had, at the inauguration of the team last December, said: “The committee will adopt strategic engagements and wide consultations to develop an all-encompassing and productive outcome that will stand the test of time, giving both old and new members, especially aggrieved parties, a sense of belonging and inclusion, with renewed hope.

“Similarly, the committee will consider proactive measures and solutions to potential threats in our conflict resolution approach,” Buni said.